Jesse Marsch’s first signing as Leeds United manager in the summer of 2022 was Brenden Aaronson and the first major move this summer is Aaronson’s shock return to Elland Road.
It isn’t surprising that 23-year-old Aaronson has returned to Leeds, but reports state that he will be a part of next season’s push for promotion from The Championship to the Premier League and that is a surprise.
The belief among fans, journalists and probably the club for the majority of the 2023-24 season was that Leeds would try to sell all eight of the players that left using Victor Orta’s relegation loan clause.
Robin Koch and Luis Sinisterra have gone, while Marc Roca is close to rejoining Real Betis. But reports this week emerged regarding Aaronson, with the USA star feeling he has unfinished business at Elland Road.
It comes after Marsch spoke about Aaronson’s future in the last couple of months, with the playmaker expected to be sold by Leeds having struggled at Union Berlin and a sense of feeling he betrayed Leeds.
Brenden Aaronson defies Marsch advice on Leeds United future
Reports state that Aaronson had the chance to rejoin Union while other clubs were also interested in taking him from Leeds, possibly on loan or even permanently but has chosen to come back with Leeds.
Marsch, who has since taken the Canada job after leaving Leeds in February 2023, was speaking on CBS Sports podcast Call It What You Want and said at the start of May that he felt Aaronson needed to leave.
“I just want to see him excel, I want to see him go somewhere where it feeds into the type of football that he can play, where he can be rewarded. I think he’ll find that, I’m not sure where but he will find that.”
Now or never for Aaronson at Leeds amid £25m transfer fee
Georginio Rutter joined Leeds for a club-record fee and struggled in his first six months. While his case was different to Aaronson in that he didn’t annoy fans by jumping ship, there are similarities to Aaronson.
Aaronson also had a full season and the chance to shine in a Leeds shirt. But, Rutter went in to the 2023-24 season with the weight of a huge fee and the knowledge if he didn’t shine, his career was on the line.
In the sense that, he would fail not only to live up to his price tag but his potential. Aaronson is now the same, next season is now or never for the American after a wonderful start to his career – he has to shine.